RockOnTheNet.com
presents The Top Pop Songs
Of All Time !
We have ranked the top pop songs that have charted over the past
50+ years on The ARC Weekly Top 40 and Billboard Hot 100, and
come up with
a definitive list that will continue to expand as we add to it,
and continue to modify as new songs chart on The ARC Weekly Top
40.

Whitney Elizabeth Houston Brown was born August 9,
1963 in Newark, NJ, the daughter of Cissy
Houston, a successful rhythm-and-blues
backup singer, and a cousin of Dionne Warwick. Since her debut in 1985,
Whitney has risen through the ranks of pop diva to a
level of musical respect few artists can claim
internationally. Whitney has been singing since her
days as a member of the New Hope Baptist Junior Choir
in Newark where she was a soloist at the age of 11.
Her rise to fame began in her teens in the background
as a backup singer for the likes of Chaka Khan, Lou Rawls,
and her mother. At the same time, Whitney pursued a
career in modeling. Whitney's first introduction to a
pop hit came in 1984 on a duet with Teddy
Pendergrass called "Hold Me."

Whitney also won 6 Billboard Music Awards (Top Black
Album and Top Pop Album for Whitney
Houston,
Top Black Album Artist, Top Pop Album Artist, Top Pop
Album Artist - Female, and Top Pop Artist (combined
LPs & singles)) and Rolling Stone's Top
Album of the Year for Whitney
Houston.

In between making music, Whitney formed the Whitney
Houston Foundation For Children. The non-profit
organization works to assist a variety of children's
issues including homelessness, cancer, AIDS, and
youth self-empowerment. Whitney also won a People's
Choice Award for Favorite Female Musical Performer.

Whitney was certified 7x platinum. The
single "I Have Nothing" was certified gold.
Whitney also won a MTV Movie Award for Best Song
("I Will Always Love You") and a People's Choice
Award for Favorite Female Musical Performer.

Whitney could be found singing songs from The
Bodyguard
on many award shows, and then returning to the stage
to pick up award after award.
Whitney won and a Juno Award in Canada for
Best-Selling Album (foreign or domestic) (The
Bodyguard).

Whitney's movie/music combination continued with her
role in Waiting
To Exhaleand several songs by Whitney on the soundtrack,
including the #1 "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)", and duet with Ce
Ce Winans, "Count On Me." The soundtrack also contained
tracks from other leading female R&B artists and
went on to sell over 7 million copies in the U.S.
Whitney hit the Top 40 and Top 10 with "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)."
Whitney was inducted into the Soul Train Music Awards
Hall of Fame.November 25: Whitney topped the Billboard
Hot 100 chart for 1 week, the Hot 100 Singles Sales
chart for 1 week, the R&B Singles chart for 8
weeks, the R&B Sales chart for 3 weeks, and the
Dance Music Maxi-Singles Sales chart for 1 week with
"Exhale (Shoop Shoop)."

Whitney's third movie, The
Preacher's Wife, didn't fare quite as spectacularly at
the box office, but the soundtrack for the film
presented her with an opportunity to get back in
touch with her gospel roots. Tracks such as "I Believe In You And Me" and "Step By Step" were popular hits. The soundtrack
sold over 3 million copies in the U.S.

Whitney made news while on vacation. Apparently, she
was at a hospital in Capri (an Italian island) with a
small, deep cut on her face. Whitney and husband, Bobby Brown were on a yacht vacation of
the Mediterranean. The cut initiated a police
investigation and accounts on what happened were
conflicting. Whitney told authorities she received
the cut when she hit her face on a rock while
swimming. Members of the couple's yacht crew reported
that the cut occurred while on the yacht. The last
controversy of this nature with the couple was in
June, when witnesses reportedly saw Brown slap
Whitney in a Hawaiian shopping mall. At that time,
Whitney stated the reports were a case of mistaken
identity. Whitney's publicist later reported that
Whitney did cut her face on the yacht when she
slipped in the dining room. Whitney has denied
reports about a troubled marriage or domestic
problems: "...he wouldn't be there if he
did."

Whitney appeared on HBO with Classic Whitney,
a live performance from Washington, D.C.

Whitney could be seen in an ABC presentation of Cinderella co-starring Brandy. Brandy and Whitney demonstrated that
when they combine with Disney and a classic story,
they're a hit. The Sunday night airing of the Rodgers
& Hammerstein musical, Cinderella was viewed by over 60 million
people in the U.S. Cinderella, starring Brandy in the title role and Whitney
as her fairy godmother, was presented by ABC's newly
revamped Wonderful World of Disney. The
presentation helped ABC get their best ratings in
that time slot in over 13 years.
It was reported that Whitney would be singing at a
performance headed by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon's
Unification Church. Many assumed that Whitney did not
know the specifics of the performance (as part of The
World Culture and Sports Festival), but did agree to
sing for 45 minutes for a seven-figure payment.
Houston's publicist stated "...that title
sounded good to Whitney, because those are the types
of events she likes to perform at... She's always
attracted to things that are family oriented."
The performance was scheduled for November 29th at
the RFK Stadium in Washington, and included Jon Secada as her opening act (Secada
apparently was also unaware of the performance's
connection to Moon and thought it was a Whitney
concert). The event was called a mass wedding for
"Moonies." A spokesperson for Moon's group
stated that every artist booked for their events
knows in advance who is hiring them. Whitney ended up
canceling her appearance at the Moonie wedding.
Houston cancelled at the last minute due to a sudden
illness.
Houston reportedly cancelled her appearance an hour
before she was due on stage and this made 4
cancellations this year for the songstress after
previous cancellations at the Essence Awards, a
Children's Defense Fund appearance, and The Rosie
O'Donnell Show. Rosie had stated on-the-air that
her cancellation came within an hour of the airing,
and it has also been reported that Whitney was seen
later in the day with husband Bobby Brown for his
appearance on The Late Show With David Letterman.

Whitney was nominated for 2 Grammy Awardsfor Best R&B Vocal Performance - Female ("I Believe In You And Me") and Best R&B Album (The
Preacher's Wife).
Whitney returned to The Rosie O'Donnell Show
with a tongue-in-cheek note from her mother stating
that she was sick in October, and was not able to
appear on her show.
Whitney, however, did not appear at the Grammy Awards at the end of February. She
told Entertainment Tonight that she was
unhappy with the fact that the soundtrack to The
Preacher's Wife was not nominated in the gospel
category (she was nominated in R&B categories).
She told ET: "Basically, it was my
gospel album and it was excluded from the gospel
category altogether... I'm sick of work being done
and people not recognizing it."

Whitney won a Gospel Music Association Dove Award for
Best Traditional Gospel Recorded Song for "I Go
To The Rock," a People's Choice Award for
Favorite Female Musical Performer, and the
"Quincy Jones Award" for Outstanding Career
Achievement at the Soul Train Music Awards.

"When You Believe" appeared on Houston's
first new LP in 8 years - My
Love Is Your Love. Whitney's new LP featured a variety of
producers including Babyface, Wyclef Jean, Lauryn Hill, and Missy
Elliott. On her collaboration with Carey,
Houston told USA Today: "We came
together to sing, we didn't come together to fight...
Mariah and I never had a rivalry because I didn't
know her well enough to have one with her and she
didn't know me well enough to have one with me... so
when we met, we got to know each other and now we're
friends." Whitney also talked to Newsweek
about rumors that continue to plague her: "No,
I'm not a drug addict, and neither is my husband. If
that were so, you'd get a lot less work out of me. It
would show in the performances and in the work."
Whitney hit the Top 40 with "When You Believe" (with Mariah
Carey
from The
Prince Of Egypt).

As "My Love
Is Your Love"
heated up the charts, it was announced that Whitney
teamed up with Enrique
Iglesias for a duet to appear on Houston's
greatest hits due out next year.
Whitney was nominated for 2 MTV Europe Music Awards
for Best Female Artist and Best R&B Artist.My
Love Is Your Love was certified 3x platinum.

Whitney won a MTV European Music Award for Best
R&B Artist.The
Bodyguard
soundtrack was certified 17x platinum.

Whitney was nominated for 3 American Music Awardsfor Favorite
Female Artist, Favorite Female Artist, and Favorite
R&B Album.
Also during the month, marijuana was reportedly found
in Whitney's luggage at a Hawaiian airport, but
Houston boarded the plane before police arrived. A
bag of marijuana was reportedly found at a security
checkpoint and Houston was able to leave on her
flight before police arrived.
Whitney was nominated for a Brit Award for Best
International Female Solo Artist.

Whitney was honored with an Artist of the Decade
award at this year's Soul Train Music Awards as
another single ("I Learned From The Best")
from My
Love Is Your Loveclimbed the charts.
Late in the month, Whitney's publicist stated that
Whitney "regretfully withdrew" from
performing at Sunday's Academy Awards due to a sore
throat, resulting in Faith Hill filling in for her. But the New
York Post is claiming the songstress was asked
to leave rehearsals by Burt Bacharach
after performance mistakes and
"discombobulated" appearance. Whitney also
stirred up controversy with a Jane interview
in which she responded to a question about her
bracelet: "I asked this Jew guy on Diamond Row
in New York (to make it)."
Whitney hit the Top 40 with "I Learned From The Best."March 11: Whitney topped the Billboard
Dance Music Maxi-Singles Sales chart for 1 week with
"I Learned
From The Best."

As reports came that a Whitney special on CBS this
spring would not be happening, Whitney released a
vinyl box set (Unreleased Mixes) with 4 LPs
of remixed hits. Whitney did show up for Arista
Record's 25th anniversary special (aired in May) and
performed a 20 minute set. The following day it was
announced that marijuana possession charges would not
be filed against Houston in Hawaii (from the January
incident).

A judge dismissed the marijuana possession charges
against Whitney in Hawaii. Whitney may be the
co-starring in the next James Bond film.

Whitney was honored with the Lifetime Achievement
Award at the Black Entertainment Television Awards.

Whitney signed a new multi-album record deal with
Arista Records worth over $100 million. In a
statement, Whitney said of the deal: "I am so
excited with this new deal and I'm looking forward to
going into the studio soon to start work on my next
album."

Whitney helped out Michael Jackson in celebrating his 30 years in
the music business as a solo artist with a party.

In an interview with Diane Sawyer on ABC, Whitney
talked about many issues being bantered around in the
press: "I am not sick. Let's get that straight.
I am not sick, OK?" She went on to acknowledge
past use of alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine. "I
don't like to think of myself addicted... I had a bad
habit... which can be broken... I'm not gonna tell
you I'm somebody's junkie.... My business is sex,
drugs, rock and roll. You know? My friends, we have a
good time. But as you get older and you get wiser...
you stop a lot of the kid stuff. Trust me. I partied
my tail off - you get to a point where... the party's
over." Just
Whitney...
was released.

Whitney received bad news when her 82 year old father
died in New York. Whitney and her father had some
legal squabbles lately, but Whitney did spend time
with her dad before his death.

April 12: Whitney topped the Billboard
Dance Club Songs chart for 1 week with "Try It
On My Own."

Whitney appeared on FOX's Boston Public.
Whitney performed on VH1's Divas Duets 2003 .
Whitney and her husband went to Israel on a
'spiritual retreat' and met with the Israeli Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon.

It was reported that Whitney called the police and
had cut lip and bruises on her face. She told police
that she had a fight with Brown, who had left for a
flight to California. Brown turned himself into
police a few days later and was charged with
misdemeanor battery - Whitney was at his side at
court.Rolling Stone: The 500
Greatest Albums of All Time: # 254: Whitney
Houston.

Whitney's spokesperson announced that Whitney
had checked into a drug rehabilitation facility for
30 days. She left after 5 days.

September 19: Whitney topped the Billboard
the Billboard 200 LP chart for 1 week, the Top
R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart for 1 week, and Top
Digital Albums for 1 week chart with I
Look To You. The LP sold over 305,000 copies its
first week of release in the US.

Whitney began her tour of the UK after several
cancellations due to illness, and was greated with
mixed reviews by critics.

Whitney entered rehab again.

On February 11th, Whitney died at the age of 48.
Early reports state that Whitney was found
unresponsive in the bath tub of her Beverly Hilton
hotel room. Her death occured on the eve of the
Grammy Awards and Whitney had been scheduled to make
an appearance at Clive Davis' annual pre-Grammy
concert that night. Whitney had last appeared on
stage 2 days earlier joining Kelly Price
at a pre-Grammy party. Whitney had also finished up a
part in the up-coming film Sparkle, which
she co-produced. The cause of death was later ruled
as drowning, and it was revealed that she had heart
disease with chronic cocaine use being a contributing
factor.

Note: Song title and position
links lead you to the song's ARC Weekly Top 40 chart run, LP links take
you to Amazon.com for that LP's info (often
including track listings and track samples), and
single cover art takes you to Amazon.com for that CD single (if
available). Songs charting prior to 1980 have
information from Billboard magazine.